[OAW]

Am I the only one who is a little disappointed that the iTunes Store does not offer a movie rental option? My reasoning is as follows:

1. I find myself renting far more movies than I purchase. The iTunes / iTV combination will not do anything to scratch the "I want to watch it but not keep it" itch.

2. Movies take up a sh*tload of hard disk space. A few dozen movies can eat up a hard disk really quick! But if iTunes allowed me to rent a movie I could easily delete the movie once I've watched it or the viewing period is up and recapture that space.

3. Blockbuster requires me to take a trip to the store. Netflix requires me to wait on the mailman .. and that is after I send a movie back to them. iTunes could provide the best of both worlds. The relatively "instant gratification" and "pay as you go" approach of Blockbuster along with the "no late fees" of Netflix, with even more "convenience".

Just imagine if iTunes allowed you to rent a movie for $2.99 or $3.99. You have a 30 day window to watch the movie ... as many times as you wish ... and the clock starts ticking only after you start the movie the first time. So if you download it and let it sit for 3 weeks until you can get around to it (much like I do with Netflix), you still have a month to use the movie. After the 30 day window expires it simply no longer plays.

But let's make it even more convenient! Say you rent it and you really like it and want to keep it. Imagine an option to convert the rental into a purchase. Price is the difference between the current sale price and the rental fee. No need to re-download. iTunes automatically removes the rental viewing restrictions and sets the DRM to treat it like any other purchased movie. Imagine if iTunes asked you wanted to purchase, delete, or keep the movie if you try to watch it after the rental period has expired?

I think Apple made the right call on resisting the "subscription model" for music. I agree that most people prefer to own their music. But movies are a different beast. A lot of people like to purchase DVDs because they are relatively inexpensive and provide a good value. But even more people rent them. Since the studios won't allow a burn-to-dvd option, disk space becomes a major issue in the movie download market which a rental option would help to alleviate. I believe Apple is missing an opportunity here .....

Just my 2 cents. Thoughts?

OAW

[mduell]

I'd rather buy movies (on a per-movie basis) and rent music (on a per-time basis with unlimited downloads).

I prefer to watch a few movies many times, but for music I like to listen to a lot of variety.

[El Gato]

You would most likely run into the problem of someone figuring out how to strip the DRM. I definitely like the idea of being able to download the movie and have it sit for a while until I'm ready to watch it, and then have iTunes delete it or refuse to play it after a set time period, but there's too much of a risk to Apple from hackers. The DRM would have to be locked down pretty tightly.

The only option I see to have a rental service work is for Apple to stream the content. This may be where they're heading with iTV. It's already set up to connect to a LAN/WLAN, so content could be directly streamed to iTV without the need of a Mac/PC and iTunes unless you want to purchase the movie.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by El Gato

You would most likely run into the problem of someone figuring out how to strip the DRM.

The people who write the DRM-removing software have already figured out how to strip the DRM from FairPlay protected files using iTunes 7 and updated the software.

mods: I am not naming the project.

[porieux]

...

[porieux]

...

[itai195]

Originally Posted by porieux

'renting' movies this way would be a colossal waste of internet bandwidth and highly unethical.

Highly unethical?

I agree with OAW. I watch far more movies than I'm interested in owning. Ultimately I have no problem with Netflix's two day turnaround time, so even an online rental product probably wouldn't do it for me unless it's subscription based like Netflix.

[porieux]

...

[OAW]

Originally Posted by porieux

OK somewhat unethical.

A tad bit hyperbolic, n'est pas? Please explain ...

OAW

[itai195]

How is it unethical at all if Apple offers it as a service under agreement with the studios??? Unless you are focusing on the bandwidth issue, but there are far greater wastes of bandwidth out there than this would be.

[OAW]

Originally Posted by El Gato

You would most likely run into the problem of someone figuring out how to strip the DRM. I definitely like the idea of being able to download the movie and have it sit for a while until I'm ready to watch it, and then have iTunes delete it or refuse to play it after a set time period, but there's too much of a risk to Apple from hackers. The DRM would have to be locked down pretty tightly.

Perhaps. But with a pay-per-rental model like I'm proposing (i.e., not a subscription model) Apple has already got you for half the cost of the purchase already. They have a lot less to lose than MS does with its subscription model where you fork over 10 bucks ... download thousands of songs with its "all you can eat" feature ... and then strip the the DRM off. Besides, most consumers are not going to bother with trying to strip off the DRM. No security system is foolproof. And the DRM .. just like car alarms and home security systems ... are really designed to keep the amateurs out. A pro who really wants to jack your sh*t is going to jack your sh*t anyway.

OAW

[porieux]

...

[porieux]

...

[OAW]

Originally Posted by porieux

On the other hand, there is nothing to stop you from deleting the video after you have watched it, so you don't HAVE to keep those large files around if you don't want to.

Me? I would buy a DVD or just use TiVo if I don't want to own it.

True. But if I've forked over $14.99 for it I'm damn sure not gonna delete it. Whereas I would if I only paid $3.99. And Tivo only works for whatever cable/satellite happens to be airing.

OAW

[El Gato]

Originally Posted by OAW

Perhaps. But with a pay-per-rental model like I'm proposing (i.e., not a subscription model) Apple has already got you for half the cost of the purchase already. They have a lot less to lose than MS does with its subscription model where you fork over 10 bucks ... download thousands of songs with its "all you can eat" feature ... and then strip the the DRM off. Besides, most consumers are not going to bother with trying to strip off the DRM. No security system is foolproof. And the DRM .. just like car alarms and home security systems ... are really designed to keep the amateurs out. A pro who really wants to jack your sh*t is going to jack your sh*t anyway.

OAW

Good points and I agree with you for the most part. I just think that it will be tough to sell it to the studios to allow full downloading of a movie for $2-3 with the possibility that the DRM could be easily circumvented. Even if it wouldn't be as big of a profit loss as with subscription services or necessarily something computer novices/amateurs would try to do, these are lawyers and movie studio execs we're talking about - not exactly the most rational people when it comes to money and consumer choice.

I think a streaming service would be much more palatable to the studios and alleviate a lot of the fears of piracy. Especially if the movies were streamed directly to the iTV. You would still get the movies "on-demand" (similar to downloading it and watching it a week later when you're ready), you could still have access to it for a period of time after the initial viewing to watch it again for free, and, since the file is going to iTV and not your computer, little to no way to pirate it.

[RAILhead]

I haven't rented movies since around 1997. So, no, I'm not bothered. I just buy a DVD that looks interesting, then sell it or give it away if I don't like it.

[OAW]

Originally Posted by El Gato

Good points and I agree with you for the most part. I just think that it will be tough to sell it to the studios to allow full downloading of a movie for $2-3 with the possibility that the DRM could be easily circumvented. Even if it wouldn't be as big of a profit loss as with subscription services or necessarily something computer novices/amateurs would try to do, these are lawyers and movie studio execs we're talking about - not exactly the most rational people when it comes to money and consumer choice.

The studios have no problem with renting downloads. Most of the existing services do just that. Especially the one offered by the other major player in this space ....

Amazon Unbox

I guess my point is that given the overall popularity of renting movies, why be the only service that does not offer this option?

OAW

[itai195]

Originally Posted by RAILhead

I haven't rented movies since around 1997. So, no, I'm not bothered. I just buy a DVD that looks interesting, then sell it or give it away if I don't like it.

I used to do that too, then I realized just using Netflix would be a lot less bother.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by OAW

Just imagine if iTunes allowed you to rent a movie for $2.99 or $3.99. You have a 30 day window to watch the movie ... as many times as you wish ... and the clock starts ticking only after you start the movie the first time. So if you download it and let it sit for 3 weeks until you can get around to it (much like I do with Netflix), you still have a month to use the movie. After the 30 day window expires it simply no longer plays.

I like that idea, but I'd be happy if they started the clock the second you started downloading. They could also have an option to buy for another $5 or whatever.

I think the service and iTV will be very cool, I just wish we had more details about what it will and will not play. I don't think Apple will go out of their way to cripple the unit so it doesn't play a number of popular formats, but I would be VERY happy if it played native VOB files and divx, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

My EyeHome played VOB files and divx, and I loved that thing (even if the software for the system was quirky). It also broke every time Apple updated Quicktime. My box just broke... so I'm very interested to see what Apple has in store for us.

Richard

[SeSawaya]

I really doubt I'll ever buy a movie. For that price I could own the DVD too. They should think aobut putting netflix and movie rental stores out of business. It will happen eventually. I doubt many people really want to own and watch MANY times any of the shows that are currently on the store.

Rentals would be huge, just as they already are.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by SeSawaya

I really doubt I'll ever buy a movie. For that price I could own the DVD too. They should think aobut putting netflix and movie rental stores out of business. It will happen eventually. I doubt many people really want to own and watch MANY times any of the shows that are currently on the store.

Rentals would be huge, just as they already are.

I don't see the iTunes movie purchasing catching on until the iTV is on sale. I'm sure a handful here would watch a movie on their Mac, but most people won't.

I think the idea is great, but wasn't WOWed with the price. Perhaps it it was more like $7.99 for older movies, $9.99 for most movies and $11.99 for new movies I would have been a bit more excited.

[RAILhead]

Originally Posted by itai195

I used to do that too, then I realized just using Netflix would be a lot less bother.

I don't like to wait.